may the wrap be with you

Master Masbau, as a Jedi Temple Guard, is an excellent swordsman. He spends the majority of his time keeping watch over the entrances to the Temple, but another critical part of his work is tracking down and stopping rogue Jedi. Any Jedi who has fallen to the Dark side will certainly have to watch out with Master Masbau after them! Perhaps, he'll be willing to pass on some of his knowledge of lightsaber combat? Chasing after gun-toting raiders is one thing. Dueling a saber-wielding opponent is another thing entirely. If there's anybody who can give you pointers, it will be Master Masbau. You know for sure that this is the case since he's already helped you out immensely with Ataru in the past. And so, you decide to bother him while you wait for the Chief Librarian to finish her own search.

"Master," you say – avoiding saying his name in public, since he's technically on duty with his mask on. "When's the next time you'll be teaching us?"

"In physical training? I'm not sure. The instructors haven't asked me to help out since the last time. Why do you ask?"

"I want to get better at fighting!" you exclaim. "I'm smaller and weaker than the others, so I need to get better or I won't be able to keep up. I won't be able to beat anybody in the tournament, otherwise."

"Learning to fight just so you can fight more in the tournament isn't the goal, little one," admonishes the Master.

You pout at this, turning your eyes up toward him.

"That won't work on me, you know. I know you well enough, Xena. You've already gotten past that hesitance of yours in combat. Ever since you started learning Ataru you've become very good for your age. You don't need me in order to do well in physical training. It's all about self-discipline anyways. It's on you to make yourself better."

"But, you always have the best tips for me!" you whine. "It's because you know me so well that you can help me best. Also, I've had to fight monsters already! It's dangerous! If you help me, I could be much safer."

"Xena, would being stronger or better at dueling help at all with fighting dream monsters?"

"...maybe. You don't know it won't."

"You didn't even have a lightsaber in your warp-dream."

"I didn't have a lightsaber on me when I started meditating. Maybe it'd have come with me if I did. The Gathering's only a couple months away too! I'll have a lightsaber soon."

Master Masbau sighs and looks away. You can see the emotions swirling around him as well as the needs and desires in turmoil within his true-self, the care he has for you warring with his sense of duty. Finally, after a minute, he sighs, and then looks back at you.

"Xena, you don't need me to teach you how to fight. I think it will be a better use of your time to focus on learning Force Stanch or meditating on how to deal with that anger within you. If you're asking me to tutor you in dueling, I can give you some tips, but I'm not your Master and you are not my Padawan. I cannot spend the time to tutor you specifically in combat."

"But, you are still my teacher," you say quietly.

Master Masbau frowns at this, his emotions in turmoil once again. After another moment, he makes a final decision.

"...Fine. I will give you a few lessons. But, only when we both have the time. Just as I said, I want you to focus on Force Stanch and your meditation. You don't need to be a good duelist to be a good Jedi. Take your time with it."

"Yes, Master."

You glance at the door to the holocron vault, and seeing that it is still closed, you turn back to Master Masbau.

"Master, do you have any tips that could help me now? It could be helpful for the Gathering! I heard it can be dangerous there," you say.

Master Masbau hesitates for a moment, then decides to oblige you.

"All parts of your body are a weapon. Especially that tail of yours! It's been growing sharper over the last few years, and I'm starting to get worried that you'll accidentally stab someone with it."

"I'm being careful!" you protest.

"I'll hold you to that. I don't have a massive scorpion tail myself, so I can't really help you with how to fight with that thing, but I can tell you more about using the rest of your body to your advantage. Through Ataru, you've learned how to use the available space around you, using your speed and agility to engage your opponent from any direction. Keep your opponent from tracking you properly, and hit them from where they least expect it, either with your lightsaber or with anything else. Punch them in the gut. Kick them. Knee them. Elbows work too. Anything you can do to get the advantage is on the table in a real fight. Mixing in strikes between swings of your blade can catch many opponents off guard."

"Headbutting?"

"I would recommend against that unless you have no choice. If you don't do it right, you can hurt yourself just as badly as you hurt your opponent. Or even worse. The horns might help you in a pinch, but they're too short to fully prevent you from hurting yourself."

You think a bit as Master Masbau finishes his lecture. You've heard the majority of this advice before, but hearing it from Master Masbau drives the point home. Honestly, a lot of it sounds pretty obvious anyway. However, you believe this will help you out in your future fights. You're not sure if it's allowed in the lightsaber tournament though…

≡][≡ ⬦⬦⬦ ≡][≡

A minute later, the door to the vault spirals open with a woosh, making you jump up in surprise. Jocasta Nu steps out, the dark-violet of worry mixed in amongst streaky-blues of confusion evident in her emotions. You can't really tell what exactly she's found, but it's probably bad news. As Master Nu steps closer, she begins to relay what she found.

Which was… nothing. Nothing at all that matches your circumstances. Nothing mentioning the warp, the Empyrean, or the Immaterium. Nothing about gargantuan creatures like you saw. And nothing regarding being injured by a vision. There's plenty of similar stories among the holocrons, but everything is clearly the result of Dark side shenanigans.

What you said about being watched by some malevolent force was also far too vague to be useful. She relays multiple accounts of Jedi who experienced some distant evil watching them and manipulating their actions, but again, nothing matches up. Due to how imprecise your description was in the first place, you get the feeling that perhaps you wasted Master Nu's time. Fortunately, she's rather understanding about the ordeal, despite the fact that you're sounding more and more like a child complaining about some scary dreams.

"Don't worry, dear. We'll get to the bottom of this yet. Do you feel as if you are in any immediate danger?"

When you shake your head in denial, she smiles kindly and continues.

"Well then. You're likely to be fine. I'll bring this up with the Council the next chance I get. Perhaps another Master has heard of this issue before. In the meantime, continue with your Initiate training. If anything happens — anything whatsoever — immediately let me or your Master here know."

"Thank you, Master Nu. I will."

"Good. Unfortunately, it may take a while before I can bring this to the Council. Recently, there have been many… issues cropping up. Distasteful petty politics. Nothing for you to be concerned of, but these things do get in the way. Now, I must be off. The guests, and my books, call to me!"

And with that, Master Nu departs, gliding her way back to the front of the Library. You turn as you hear Master Masbau speak.

"Xena, as Master Nu said, please be careful. I will always be here for you, but I can't always be there for you. You must come find me as soon as something happens. Or, better yet, don't poke at anything even seemingly dangerous unless I'm around. I will trust your judgment here."

"Yes, Master."

"Well, it's time that we are off too. I have duties to return to, and you need to return to your classes. I believe that you can at least catch the end of today's physical training session if you hurry."

"Yes, Master. And, thank you. Thanks for being there for me. I'll be safe."